The headline uses that term because consumer spending, across the economy as a whole, is up and a healthy amount. The “pullback” appears to be in select subsectors where price increases have drastically outstripped core inflation and/or specific companies who have done so without regard for competitors’ pricing.
In fairness, this is a new development as far as economics goes. It’s very unusual that a fast food burger is as expensive as a sit down restaurant. Which is why we’ve used things such as the Big Mac index for understanding purchasing power. Prior to this, it was assumed that fast food was a kind of essential item that arrived at its lowest cost.
The headline uses that term because consumer spending, across the economy as a whole, is up and a healthy amount. The “pullback” appears to be in select subsectors where price increases have drastically outstripped core inflation and/or specific companies who have done so without regard for competitors’ pricing.
Thank you.
It shouldn’t (still) surprise me, but it always does…when people do drastically misunderstand or misinterpret economic information.
In fairness, this is a new development as far as economics goes. It’s very unusual that a fast food burger is as expensive as a sit down restaurant. Which is why we’ve used things such as the Big Mac index for understanding purchasing power. Prior to this, it was assumed that fast food was a kind of essential item that arrived at its lowest cost.